Where is the end to prisoner abuse?
Mahbub, Dhaka
The world has already witnessed the horrendous prisoner-abuse pictures of American soldiers in Abu Gharib prison. A female American soldier (Specialist Sabrina Harman), smiling and giving a thumbs-up as she poses over the body of an Iraqi detainee, is the latest shocking picture to emerge from the prisoner abuse scandal. In a second picture, Specialist Charles Graner is also seen smiling with a raised thumb as he leans over the same corpse. The enquiry reports confirmed that the detainee embraced death with countless bruises all over his body, mercilessly tortured by the prison personnel. Furthermore, the smile on the prison guards' face reflects the savage and barbaric mindset of the so-called 'custodians of prisoners' who did not leave even a dead body in peace. Are we surprised? The answer is negative. The attitude and methods of atrocities have crossed all human limits. This is not an isolated incident in 'Abu Gharib'; rather it is part of systematic abuses carried out in all prisons/detention centres under US led forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and the like. Iraq is the oldest civilisation in the Middle East but its long drawn tradition and culture is once again the prey to the cruel hawks. The methods of atrocities in Iraq are manifold; to exemplify, on 19 May 2004, US helicopter gun-ships killed around 40 persons near Iraq-Syria border when innocent people were celebrating the wedding in a traditional way. After experiencing these terrible incidents against humanity, whom do we call the 'evil-doers'? Today, undoubtedly 'Abu Gharib' stands as the testimony to imperial hegemony. The court martial of accused soldiers under exclusively coalition control is only 'eye-wash' to the whole world. While the Iraqis are abused/tortured/killed in coalition custody; the world would also like to see that the accused US soldiers are tried with participation of Iraqis in open courts. Such transparency would only mark the start of a protracted 'damage-control' measure.
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